Porter: "We have to nurture the stars of tomorrow, not risk their potential."
Wednesday 6 February 2019 18:22, UK
The decision to replace the injured Gary Anderson with nine contenders in this year's Premier League is an "innovative" and "exciting" solution, PDC chief executive Matt Porter says.
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Two-time Premier League champion Anderson was forced to withdraw from this year's campaign due to a back injury, which also ruled him out of the season-opening Masters in Milton Keynes last weekend.
Following Anderson's withdrawal, the PDC announced that the two-time world champion would be replaced by a mixture of local and future stars - all of whom are making their debuts in the tournament.
Chris Dobey, Glen Durrant, Steve Lennon, Luke Humphries, John Henderson, Nathan Aspinall, Max Hopp, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Jeffrey de Zwaan will each feature in one evening across the opening nine nights, before one of the regular participants is eliminated on Judgement Night.
However, Porter told the Darts Show podcast that the decision was only made after big discussions among PDC directors.
"We had an extensive debate amongst our board and ultimately we came down on the side of this innovative solution which I think will be really exciting," said Porter.
"If it's a risk, it's a risk that will last two months and for the benefit of each player, will last one night. What would have been a risk is throwing a young lad into this for nine weeks, someone who's got potential; someone who is a prospect, someone who will go on and have a great career.
"We don't want to be setting those sort of people back, because we've seen that the Premier League can be a bit of a graveyard.
"It can be a very tough school and if you don't take to it quickly, it can be a pretty horrible place week in week out, 10,000 people, you're getting turned over each week, lots of travelling, time away. We have to nurture the stars of tomorrow, not risk their potential."
Young prospects including Van den Bergh, Jamie Lewis and Corey Cadby have all featured on the World Series circuit over recent years and Porter believes the 'contenders' initiative will provide a good barometer for the progression of the sports' future stars.
"People have talked about the World Series as being the place for giving people a chance, ultimately it doesn't really matter where you give someone a chance," Porter said.
"It's just about seeing how they perform on those stages in those environments, are they ready and if not, how far away are they from being ready, and that's useful for them as well.
"Everybody can have a run. We've seen pretty much all of these kids have a run in a major event, but they haven't done it consistently week in week out, year in year out. That's because they've not been around that long.
"So what we're doing now is saying - here is another chance for you to go up there, play a top player, big crowd, in many cases a local crowd which will bring with it a lot of support but also a lot of expectation, so it's a good barometer for their progression."
Two-time PDC major quarter-finalist Dobey is the first contender to feature in this year's Premier League, as he takes on World Matchplay finalist Mensur Suljovic on home soil in Newcastle.
Porter admits it could prove to be a "whirlwind" for the younger stars, but he claims it will provide them with a valuable insight into the demands of competing in the gruelling Premier League.
"It will be a bit of a whirlwind and we're making them do it properly. They're having to be on site on the Wednesday, stay in the hotel.
"Chris Dobey lives closer to the arena than our hotel is to the arena, but the point is he's going to be in the hotel on the Wednesday, he's here at the press day today. He's being treated like a proper player and it's a good learning curve for him."
The PDC launched the Premier League in 2005, with the sport's finest packing out Stoke's Kings Hall on the opening night of the tournament, a venue which boasted a capacity of around 400 people.
Nevertheless, darts' biggest roadshow has grown beyond all comprehension, with last year's inaugural visit to the Mercedes Benz Arena in Berlin attracting a capacity crowd of 12,000.
Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena hosts the opening night of this year's tournament and Porter, who is also a director at Leyton Orient FC, notes that the profile of players has grown immeasurably within the last decade.
"They're going to share the same sort of surroundings as top International sportspeople and I think it does make them feel special."
"A lot of our players who have been around a long time - they're used to leisure centres and small halls and they come here and Premier League footballers want to meet them," he said.
"They're going to share the same sort of surroundings as top International sportspeople and I think it does make them feel special."
The Premier League will return to Berlin in 2019, while Rotterdam will also feature on the calendar for the fourth year in succession, as the Ahoy Arena hosts a double-header culminating with Judgement Night.
However, Porter admits there are no immediate plans to add another European venue to the Premier League calendar.
"It's only a one-night show so we have to think logistically and we've got to go to markets where we know we can generate a Premier League type atmosphere," he added.
"We're not going to test a new country with a Premier League night, we do that with the European Tour, so it's about building up places to the right level where they can stage a European Tour event.
"Germany has done that now, the Netherlands did it a couple of years ago. At the moment there probably isn't anywhere that's on the short-term list, but it's a moving feast and we'll assess it year in year out."
The Premier League action gets underway on February 7 in Newcastle. You can also stay up to date with all the action by following us @SkySportsDarts and get all the latest news, previews and interviews www.skysports.com/darts
